Clothes hanger and bed tag for hospital beds



July 10, 1951 J TARVIN 2,560,494

CLOTHES HANGER AND BED TAG FOR HOSPITAL BEDS Filed Jan. 31, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR J55 L..174E vm,

TTORNEYS 1 J. L. TARVIN 5%,

CLOTHES HANGER AND BED TAG FOR HOSPITAL BEDS Filed Jan. 51, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 J05 LJhew/v,

Patented July 10, 1951 CLOTHES. HANGER AND BED TAG FOR HOSPITAL BEDS Joe L. Tarvin, North Little Rock, Ark;

Application January 31, 1950, Serial No. 141,361.

Claims.

My invention relates to hospital beds and especially those used in hospitals for mental patients. More particularly the invention relates to a permanent fixture or attachment to such a bed adapted to support the day-time clothes of the user of the bed and to identify the patient using the bed.

Mental hospitals have very strict rules prohibit ing the use of any loose or detachable objects which, a mental patient might use to injure him self or others. Such patients. are usually not physically sick and confined to their beds dur ing v the day. At night when they remove their clothes there is great need for some convenient place to put their coats; trousers, sweaters, etc. within easy reach; and that is especially true where such hospitals are crowded and short of attendants. In such hospitals itis also desirable to number the beds and to identify the beds with the patients using them.

The object of the invention is therefore to provide simple, inexpensive and satisfactory clothes hanger to be installed as a permanent fixture on a hospital bed, and with which may be combined a tag holder for identifying the bed and. the patient using it, the parts being so constructed and mounted that it will be impossible fora patient to detach or remove any part..

The above and other objects and advantages are attained by the preferred embodiments of the invention hereinafter described and claimed, and. illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 a top'view' of'oneform of the invention applied to a portion of the end frame of a bed;

Fig. 2' is a front elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1;

Fig; 3 is a section'taken on line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig; 4 is a detail perspective viewof a tag holder shown in'Fig. 2;

Fig; 5 is asectional view similar to Fig. 3 showing' a slightly modified form of the invention;

' Fig: Gisa top plan view similar to Fig; 1 showing another form of the invention;

Fig; 7 is a detail section on line 7-1 of Fig. 6;.

Fig; 8' is a top plan view of another embodiment in which the clothes supporting portion is made preferablyofsheet'metal;and.

Fig. 9 is a section online 99' of Fig; 8;

Hospital beds are usually of metal and have both their-head and footends'or frames formed from metal tubes bent to provide top bars and corner posts or legs. The end framesinclude horizontal bars connected" to the posts or. legs beneath the top bars. Spaced vertical rods connect the horizontal bars to the top bars. In the drawings B denotes the top bar of a bed end andC the usual spaced vertical rods.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 to 4 inelusive, it will be seen that the device comprises an attaching. body It preferably applied to the outside of the foot end of a bed and a clothes support or hanger I I projecting outwardly therefrom. The body It is of inverted U-sh'ape to fit over the top of the cylindrical bar B, and it is preferably formed by bending a substantially rectangular plate or sheet of metal or other suitable. material to form an elongated top portion ['2 and two opposed downwardly extending side portions l3 and Hi. The front or outer side portion I4 is formed at the center of its lower edge with a dc"- pending brace [5 having a laterally bent lower end It adapted to thrust against one ofthe' rods C", the body being positioned on the bar B'with its center opposite one of the rods,. as seen in Figs. 1 and 2.

While the body It may be permanently fixed to the bed in various ways, I have shown in said views twobolts I? which are disposed on opposite sides ofthe rod C and pass through alined ope'nings in the portions [3,. M, lock washers and nuts l8 being. applied to bolts to fasten the body so that it cannot be removed by a patient without the use oftools. The bolts tightly clamp the body and the brace [5 not only prevents its turning on the cylindrical bar 3 but disposes the front poition of plate [4 in a vertical position.

The clothes hanger I! may also be variously constructed but I preferably form it from a heavy wire or metal rod by bending it to form an elongated loop which is disposed in a horizontal plane spaced outwardly from the body. It comprises a straight front portion 19 and two inwardly or rearwardly extending rear portions 20 which extend angularly from the ends of the front portion to the body H1". The inner ends of the portions 20 may be welded at 21 totheplate portion M, or otherwise fixed to thebody.

Since it is desirable to identify the beds by numbers and also to identify the beds with the patients using. them, I provided means for supporting. an identification card. ('not shown) on thebody although of course the number of the bed may be pai'nted or stamped directly upon the upper portion of the body 10. As shown in Fig. 4 I may employ a tag holder 2-2 in the form of a rectangular strip of sheet metal or other suitable material with its ends bent back upon the body portion as shown at 23 to form oppositely facing vertical channels 24 to receive the ends of a rectangular card or tag bearing the bed and patient identification. The straight fiat body portion of the tag holder is positioned in rear of the front portion I4 and hence will be clamped between the same and the bar B when the bolts I"! are tightened. The length of the holder is such that the bent, channeled ends 23' will extend around the vertical edges or ends of the portion I4, and the heads of the bolts I! may serve to limit the downward movement of the card in thechannels.

The form of the invention shown in Fig. 5 is the same as above described except that instead of using the separate bolts or similar fastening-s I! to fasten the body, and instead of welding the ends of the clothes hanger loop, I form the ends of the rod from which the hanger is made with screw threaded shanks 25 to take the place of the bolts I1 and thus fasten the hanger to the body plied to the extremities of the threaded shanks as will be understood on reference to Fig. 5. The structure is the same as if the bolts ll instead of having heads, were formed on the ends of the bent rod which forms the hanger loop.

In the form shown in Figs. 6 and '7 the hanger loop ll is welded to the body It? as in Figs. 1 and 2, but instead of fixing the body to the bar B by bolts or similar fastenings, the body HP is welded at its ends as shown at 26 to the bar B. Since the body is fixed to the bed by welding it is not necessary that the inner depending portion Iii be as long as the opposed outer portion l4 of the body, and the latter may be further fixed by welding the portion 13* as shown at 21. The front portion M has a central depending brace lt to hold the front plate vertical and prevent it from being sprung by the weight of the clothes on the hanger H In this form, in stead of making the card or tag holder separate from the body, I may provide the substantially rectangular sheet of metal or other suitable material from which the body is made with a pair of integral flanges 23 that are bent upon themselves to form channels to receive the ends of the identification card (not shown). These channel forming flanges are at the upper portions of the ends of the front portion M as seen in Fig. '7.

Instead of making the clothes hanger out of a metal rod, I may stamp it out of heavy gage sheet metal or other suitable material as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, although in such case trousers may not be so readily supported since the hanger is not in loop form. The hanger H has a straight front edge extending from end-to-end of its two arms. If desired these arms may be stiffened by stamping in them beads or corrugations as shown at 28. The angularly disposed inner or rear edges of the hanger arms converge to a fiat attaching shank 29 formed with a downwardly bent flange 30. In this form the body lfi is made substantially the same as the body ID in the first form but instead of making the card holder separate, it is formed by bent flanges 23 as in the form shown in Figs. 6 and '7. The attaching flange 30 may be welded to the front portion M of the body, or it may abut said portion M and be provided with openings to receive fastening bolts ll which correspond to the bolts II.

It will be apparent from the foregoing, that I 4 have provided a very simple and inexpensive hos pital bed fixture on which a patients clothes may be hung either by the patient or an attendant when they are not being used.

Excellent results have been obtained from the details disclosed, but it will be understood that within the scope of the invention as claimed, numerous minor changes may be made.

I claim:

l. The combination with a bed end having a top bar and spaced rods dependin therefrom, of

i an inverted U-shaped body to receive said bar and having on at least one side a depending brace with a laterally projecting portion to thrust against one of said rods, means fixing said body to said bar, and a clothes hanger fixed to said body and projecting outwardly from the same on its side having said brace.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said clothes hanger is a rod bent to form an elongated loop having a straight outer portion and two inner portions extending angularly from the ends of said straight portion to said body.

3. The structure of claim 1 in which said clothes hanger is an elongated sheet material plate having oppositely projecting tapered portions and a central shank portion connected to said body.

4. The structure of claim 1 together'with an identification card holder on said body having horizontally spaced vertical channels to receive the ends of a card.

5. The structure of claim 1 in which said body is formed from a substantially rectangular piece of sheet material bent to fit over said bar, said depending brace being integrally formed at the center of one side edge of said sheet.

6. The structure of claim 5 in which said means for fixing said body to said bar comprises horizontally spaced bolts passing through opposite portions of the bent sheet beneath said bar and on opposite sides of the said rod which is engaged by said brace.

7. The structure of claim 5 in which said bent sheet has opposed portions extending downwardly below said bar and formed with alined openings, and in which said clothes hanger is formed by a rod bent to form an elongated loop and two spaced parallel screw threaded fastening shanks which extend through said alined openings and are secured by nuts screwed on the projecting ends of said shanks.

8. The structure of claim 5 in which said bent sheet has opposed portions extending below said top bar and said means for fixing said body to said bar comprises bolts extending through said opposed portions of said sheet, together with an identification card holder comprising a rectangular strip with opposed end channels to receive the ends of a card, the body portion of said card holder strip being clamped between said bar and one of said opposed portions of the bent sheet with the end channels of the card holder disposed beyond the ends of said body.

9. A clothes hanger for application to a bedend frame having a top bar and at least one rod depending therefrom, comprisingan inverted U- shaped body to straddle a frame top bar above a depending rod, said body having on at least one side a depending brace with a laterally projecting portion to thrust against the rod, means whereby said body may be fixed to the bar, and a clothes hanger fixed to said body and projecting Jgutwardly from the same on its side having said race.

10. A combined clothes hanger and identification device for application to a bed-end frame having a top bar and at least one rod depending therefrom, comprising an inverted U-shaped body to straddle a frame top bar above a depending rod, said body having on at least one side a depending brace with a laterally projecting portion to thrust against the rod, means whereby said body may be fixed to the bar, and an identification card holder on said bod having spaced opposed channelsto receive the opposite edges of a card, said channels being disposed on the side of said body having said brace.

JOE L. TARVDL REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 5 file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

